Hope's Children
by Xandria Nirvana
Summary: 4 boys. Remus Lupin lost and lonely. Sirius Black unloved and beaten. Peter Pettigrew bored and seeking adventure. James Potter had the perfect life. What can these 4 boys teach each other about friendship, trust and loyalty? Will be SBRL and JPLE.
1. Meeting the Marauders

Hope's Children

Chapter 1: Meeting the Marauders

Remus Lupin was more than a little scared; he had five minutes to get deeper into the forest and there was an owl following him. With only a few minutes to go it was getting harder to run properly and he certainly didn't want to bite anyone. He stopped as the pain overtook him. This was horrible. He could still see the town where he had had his last job. Maybe I should back up and tell you a little about Remus Lupin. He was a small boy; at ten years old he might have been mistaken for a seven or eight year old. He had been going from town to town, finding work since two weeks after his fifth birthday. For the first two years his brother had come with him, but three years ago his brother had sent him into a forest near Shessire and never met him in the next town. So Remus had been doing odd jobs in small towns, were no one paid him much mind, for three years. He had long ago given up on the idea that he could go to any school. You see, a few weeks after his fifth birthday Remus Lupin had been bitten by a werewolf and become one himself.

Peter Pettigrew was a little put out; every thing he had ever read or seen about owls on TV suggested that they were nocturnal and didn't like people, and at the moment there was a fairly large owl perched on his desk. It had just flown through the open window in Peter's attic bedroom. Peter's family owned an inn in north Saylen. Peter liked it there, even if it was a bit boring. Oh, who was he kidding, he hated it. He would have given any thing to go far, far away. He was still peering at the owl when it held out its leg and Peter saw a letter attached to it. Reaching out with a shaking hand, he untied the letter and picked up his dog's water dish, placing it on the desk next to the owl. If it were caring should this be 'was carrying'? I wasn't sure mail, no doubt it was a tame owl and therefore not a danger. Carefully, he looked at the letter; it was addressed to him though it was on an old fashioned kind of paper, the kind his mum and dad used for very fancy party invitations. Carefully turning it over, he saw what appeared to be a wax seal, the letter H, with a snake, a badger, a eagle, and a lion - they almost seemed to be moving. Opening the letter, he saw that the paper inside was the same kind as the envelope. Reading the letter quickly he let out a scream of delight; he was leaving this hellhole for ever!

Sirius Black leapt to his feet and sprinted into his room barricading the door with a desk. Sitting in the corner nursing his arm, which was bleeding from where his father had slammed it in the oven door, he looked around the room. All was fairly normal, the bed was unmade, which was good, Kreacher hadn't come in to clean yet, but there was a strange owl sitting on the windowsill. It wasn't any of his 'friends' owls and it looked as if it thought itself very important. Reaching out to take the letter held out by the owl, Sirius yelped; he had forgotten the burn on his left hand. Sighing, he switched hands. Sirius was left handed, but his father, with his old fashioned ideas, would not have a left handed person in the family, so consequently every time Sirius was caught using his left hand his father held it on the stove for at least 30 seconds. Seeing the crest on the back of the letter, Sirius' heart leapt. He was done; it was from Hogwarts, he never had to come back (at least not till summer).

James Potter rolled over; he was still tired from playing chess the night before, having called rematch after rematch trying to best his father. They had stayed up till almost three in the morning, before his Father had insisted on going to bed. Turning over and opening his eyes, he leapt off the bed; his Hogwarts letter, it was here. He was going to Hogwarts. Sighing he grasped the letter and the owl and almost skipped downstairs where he left the owl with their family owl, Wendy. He had run through the house and the office that was in the back yard before he looked at a clock and saw that no one was up yet. Disappointed, he headed back upstairs to read his letter.

A/N ok yeah very short this was just introducing the characters it will get more interesting (what do you think of Remus' history that's what comes of staying up far to late and the half conciseness that follows) any way please review (if you review me I tend to review you) any way thanks for taking the time.

Some months later

I know I should be writing the next chapter of this or _Teachers Defense _but I'm sick and having writers block. So I decided to go over this story (if your lucky I'll go over all of them).


	2. Remus' hope

Hope's Children

Chapter 2: Remus' Hope

Opening his eyes, Remus looked around trying to remember if he had gotten away from the village in time. He wasn't too beaten and nothing seemed broken, he was just tired, sore and covered in scratches from the bushes in this forest. Now he had to find his backpack and a new village to start over in _again_. Sighing, he stood up and looked around. There was his backpack; it didn't have much in it, a couple of galleons and a couple of pounds from the few jobs he had been able to get paid for. It was mostly from kind old ladies who thought he was cute. Most of the time people gave him room and board for the little work he could do: running errands and carrying stuff. He was very strong and fast, neither of which came from being a werewolf. The only good points he could see in that were the heightened senses and the ability to see through magic and such, which had come in handy over the years. At the moment though, the only thing he wanted was to go back to sleep, but before he could there was a pesky owl nipping at his ear.

"I haven't got anything for you. I'm sorry. Please stop nipping my ear." He looked at the owl; it was holding out a letter for him. That was weird; no one sent him owl post, he hadn't talked to anyone in his family for three years, and his parents in five. Reaching out, he took the letter. He was even more startled; he didn't recognize the owl. Opening the letter he let out a cry of surprise. It read:

Dear Mr. Lupin

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary tools and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy headmistress

Dear Mr. Lupin

The staff is well aware of your condition, and special arrangements have been made. Professor McGonagall, Madam Yates, or myself will contact you before the first full moon once you arrive at Hogwarts. Please do come, Mr. Lupin. It will be a step in the right direction for many people, you included.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster (Hogwarts)

That was impossible. Werewolves didn't go to school and there was no way he would be able to afford it, a wand alone was at least 5 galleons or so. What with robes and schoolbooks and quills and things he definitely wouldn't have enough. Well, I have a pair of robes, so I don't need to do that, and if I get a quill, and no books or anything else I'll just have to make a friend to share with. So a wand, a quill, some ink, and if I have any thing left over, a few schoolbooks.

"Well, I guess that means I'm going." On the back of the acceptance letter he hastily scribbled (with a muggle pen):

To whom it may concern

Thank you very much for the opportunity. I will be delighted, see you on the first.

Remus Lupin

Handing his reply to the owl, he picked up his pack and looked in it to see if he had any food. There wasn't much in it: a very old and battered copy of _The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe_, an equally old and battered copy of _The Wizard Of Oz_, a pair of robes that were dirty and old, a little bit of money, his muggle pen, and yes, a bit of bread. Munching on his bread, he headed in the direction that he had not come from. He would have to find a wizard town, or at least a wizard inn or shop to floo to Diagon Alley, and he would stay in London till the first, only leaving on the full moon, and than he could meet the train.

It felt as if he had been walking for hours before he came to a village. Looking around he saw a little corner store that he could see magic through the window of (it came in handy being able to see magic) and there was a little help wanted sign. Opening the door and praying he looked presentable, he went up to the lady at the counter. Now Remus had always been shy even before he was bitten, but when he needed a job he was good at overcoming his shyness.

"Excuse me, miss, but you have a sign up saying you're looking for someone to hire." The women looked down at him; she seemed to be sizing him up.

"And what would a puny thing like you be able to do for me, you can't be more than eight."

"I'm ten," Remus said rather defiantly, "and I'm good at carrying messages and running errands and that kind of thing. I can run really fast."

"Well, you look like you need a good meal, so let's see. I'll send you on a test run."

"Yes miss."

"First off, what's your name?"

"Remus, Miss."

"Well Remus, my husband's in town and I hate to bother him, but I have some very heavy boxes in the back that I need to move out here."

"I can move your boxes Miss. And if you don't mind me asking, what's your name miss?"

"It's Mona Williams. And I don't know about you moving those boxes, they're pretty heavy. But wouldn't hurt to try, it's nothing breakable." She led Remus into the back of the store and pointed out the boxes, and then she turned to face him.

"Now Remus, this isn't a normal shop." But before she got any further:

"I know Miss. Williams, it's a wizard's shop, sorry to interrupt but I thought I would save you the time."

"Well aren't you a bright one. Did you say you were ten?"

"Yes Miss. Williams."

"Well then you would be going to Hogwarts this September."

"Yes Miss. Williams."

"Good, you can floo to London and Diagon Alley from here, and I'll lend you a bit for school."

"You don't have to do that Miss. Williams, I have a bit saved up."

"Of course I don't have to, but I will, and no more Miss. Williams. You're to call me Mona just like everyone else. And I'm not going to ask about your parents, but you'd best not steal from me."

"I won't, I promise."

"All right, you get started on those boxes and I'll call you for dinner, you're not allergic to anything are you?"

"No Miss. Mona."

"Good then, now off you go."

Hogwarts, it was amazing, he hadn't even given it a thought, his father always said he wasn't good enough, that he had strange ideas and that they would have to pay just to get him into Durmstrang. But now he was going, and there was nothing they could do to stop him. Granted, his cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa went to Hogwarts and he didn't like them any more than he liked anyone else in his family, but than again Andromeda was nice, and she wasn't a Slytherin. He did hope he wasn't a Slytherin.

"Father, I've been accepted at Hogwarts. I can go can't I?"

"Sirius Orion Black, what have I said about interrupting us after dinner?"

"That I'm not do it unless it is a matter of utmost importance." Sirius said with a practiced voice.

"And is Hogwarts a matter of utmost importance?"

"No father, it's not."

"Well then, should you be punished?" Sirius didn't think so, but if said that it would only hurt more.

"Yes Father."

It wasn't that bad, Sirius thought to himself, hours later in his room, wondering how long till he would be at Hogwarts. His father had said he would take him and Regalus to Diagon Alley the next day. He knew why his younger bother was coming too. His father would drop them off with enough for Sirius to get all the supplies on the list and for Regalus to get an ice cream cone and the newest broomstick model: a Flying Star.

He was right, and now he had managed to ditch his little brother. Now he was heading to the robe shop. He followed a boy with long blond hair who was dressed in the most expensive robes money could buy. Sirius knew who he was; they had been introduced and told to be friends, but Sirius hadn't liked the boy when he was seven, and he didn't think he would like him any more now. But he had to get robes, it was the only thing left on his list and he had to meet his father in 10 minutes. He would just ignore Malfoy.

"Black."

"Malfoy."

And that was all they said to each other the whole time. Sirius made it back 10 minutes late, and he could tell by the evil look in his father's eye that he was in for one of the worst nights of his life, both for being late and ditching his brother. He was right of course and his father obviously was not happy about him going to Hogwarts, as he found every little thing Sirius did wrong and punished him for it so that by the time he was ready to go to Hogwarts he had a black eye and visible cuts all over his face, back and stomach. His father used a spell to cover them up, and Sirius knew he wasn't allowed to tell, but they still hurt a lot. Sirius knew he was supposed to be a Slytherin, but Sirius was not like the rest of his family and he hoped that he might break that tradition even if it meant a very severe… erm… punishment.

A/N better than before I hope. I have about half the next chapter written, do you want me to post the bit I have? If you do tell me in a review. I'll post it tomorrow after noon if people want me to.


	3. No More Morning People

Hope's Children

Chapter 3: 10:00 Friends

To catch you up, all our little kiddies have their school supplies, except Remus who has a wand and a quill and ink, as well as some cream that Mona had him put on all the little cuts he had gotten in the woods.

Remus was sorry that he wouldn't be able to come back to Mona and her husband, who were both very nice, but he promised himself that he would one day pay them back. He had gone to Diagon Alley by himself the day before August's full moon, gotten all that he could (which wasn't much even with the money that Mona had forced on him). He had than gone and hid in some woods just outside of London. Now it was the first, and he was at platform 9 ¾; it was just about 10:00 and he knew he was running early, but he headed into the platform anyway. He was sure to be the first one there, and he would just sit and read his book. Remus wasn't planning on making friends, just to get a good education and not let his secret out.

Sirius was thinking that he should be happy to get out of that imitation of hell his parents called home, but 10 was still early to meet a 11:00 train, and he was sure to be the first one there, and he wasn't one to read for fun, not to mention he was sore and the cut on his cheek was hurting. He really wasn't expecting to see anyone else there, but sitting on a bench next to a backpack was a short pale boy who looked rather ill. Pulling his trunk over he sat on his trunk and held out his hand.

"Sirius Black." The boy didn't look up but mumbled something he couldn't hear. "Sorry, didn't catch that." The boy looked up and gasped before opening his backpack and pulling out a little box. Opening it, he held it out to Sirius.

"It's for cuts, you can put it on your cheek, and my name's Remus." Sirius stared at him. This boy was strange, up close he looked even worse. There was a cut running the length of his nose, and another one on his neck. And for another thing, he hadn't given a surname.

"It looks like you need it more than I do, and how could you tell anyway? My Father did a charm before we left so that I wouldn't look clumsy on the first day of school. I fell down the stairs this morning, you see."

"I'm fine, you go ahead. And I can see through magic shields like that." Remus knew that the cut and black eye were more than a few hours old, and they looked like they hadn't been an accident.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Remus." Well it wasn't an accident that he didn't tell me his last name, then. I suppose I'll find out at the sorting. The boy had put his jar away and was walking towards the train. He didn't seem as though he wanted to make friends that much, but Sirius got up and followed him onto the train. Sitting down across from him in the compartment, he saw that the boy liked to read. He had an old copy of the Wizard of Oz open and was curled up on the chair so that he looked small and his feet weren't touching the ground. They stayed like that for almost 45 minutes until another boy was literally thrown in to their compartment.

"We know you're in there, mudblood, come out so we can show you what real wizards do." Duncan Malfoy was outside. He opened the door to Sirius' wand pointed right at his nose. "Black."

"I think you just made your first enemy, Malfoy." He said 'Malfoy' as if it were the worst thing on earth.

"You had better watch your back, Black, or I'll write to your father." Remus was sure he saw a look of fear pass over Sirius' face, and that was all he needed to confirm that the bruises were not accidental and that Sirius was not a part of his family's stereotyping. Maybe he would make friends after all. No, he wouldn't. What if they found out? They would tell the school and he would lose what little chance he had at a semi-normal life.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew, sorry about barging in on you. I'll leave now."

"Don't be silly, stay, we need company. Remus doesn't talk much and I'm Sirius Black sorry about those idiots don't like them in the slightest. That's Remus." He waved a had haphazardly at Remus and ended up smacking the boy now standing in the doorway of their compartment. He looked as if this made him mad, because he pulled out his wand and drenched Sirius in chocolate syrup. "Nice one." Sirius got rid of the syrup with a wave of his wand, and he and the boy, who had black hair that stuck up all over the place and hazel eyes, and said his name was James, started to talk about pranks.

Peter looked around at the other boys in the compartment with him. They looked nice. He hadn't caught Remus' surname, but he looked nice, if a bit sickly. Sirius Black looked nice as well, though after listening to him for a bit Peter decided he would rather not be on the receiving end of any of his pranks. James Potter was a natural leader, he didn't seem to mind taking control, and he was nice to every one. Though Peter wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of his pranks, he would much rather be covered in chocolate syrup than be pink for the rest of the year, after all, who liked to be pink?

Remus looked around at the boys in the compartment; they seemed nice, though he wasn't planning on making friends. All he wanted to do was learn as much as he could and go out into the world.

It wasn't till the next morning that Remus considered anything else. You might be wondering what happened to change his mind. It's not that complicated really. There are four Gryffindor boys: Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, to every one's surprise but his own Sirius Black, and to only Remus' surprise himself. Remus had been given no reason to believe he was anything but a monster by anyone who had ever really known him. So naturally he assumed that he was a no good dangerous monster and he should be in Slytherin because he was a dark creature. The other boys did not know this of course. They saw a pale, shy boy, who was a studier and not prone to pranks.

"Sirius, can you get up please?"

"James, I am not getting up until it is absolutely positively necessary."

"Well it is absolutely positively necessary."

"Go wake someone else up," Sirius snapped at him before hiding under the pillow.

"Fine," James mumbled, walking away.

"Remus!" he yelled right next to the boy's bed. Remus growled at him and James jumped back. "Ok, you're not a morning person, sorry." Remus didn't respond and James walked away, still mumbling to himself. "No one here's a morning person." And then a cheerful voice from behind him perked up.

"I'm a morning person." James spun around to see a small chubby boy with big round pale blue eyes looking at him the boy held out his hand. "Good morning. I'm Peter," he said, still smiling. James just smiled back and went down to breakfast. Peter followed him, talking all the while.

A/N I'm so so so sorry its been forever sense I updated this sorry this is kind of pointless and weird I'll try to make the next chapter better I promise.

Twa

Xandria Nirvana


	4. Italian Nursery Rhymes

Hope's Children

Chapter 4: Italian Nursery Rhymes

Last Chapter

"I'm a morning person." James spun around to see a small chubby boy with big round pale blue eyes looking at him. The boy held out his hand. "Good morning. I'm Peter," he said, still smiling. James just smiled back and went down to breakfast. Peter followed him, talking all the while.

This Chapter

The two boys were just finishing up breakfast when Remus came downstairs and sat down across from them.

"I'm really sorry, I'm not much of a morning person."

"No shit." James said it in a fake mad voice. To his surprise Remus looked scared. "Relax, I didn't mean it." Remus' scared expression became only slightly less so. James wondered what was up with that kid, but put it aside for another day and tuned back in to Peter's chatter.

"…To come to Hogwarts and to get out of that godforsaken town. My mum wanted to hire that sick little boy from Mona across the street to, she wouldn't let us of course…" James let Peter keep talking but tuned it out; he wasn't very fond of people who would tell their life story to a complete stranger.

When Sirius came to sit next to him it was about two minutes till class started, and James stood up.

"Where you going?" Sirius said through a mouth full of bacon.

James scrunched his nose. "Class, and you have the worst table manners I have ever seen," he said, walking out. To his surprise Sirius caught up with him fairly quickly.

"What class have we got?" James gave him a strange look.

"Ten minutes ago you were not a morning person, now you're all preppy."

Sirius shrugged. "So I'm different and I got some food in me." They entered the classroom.

Remus came shuffling into breakfast very tired, he hadn't expected to have to wake up so early, and so soon after the full moon was torture. Sitting down across from the boy who had tried to wake him up he smiled shyly and said:

"I'm really sorry, I'm not much of a morning person."

The boy glared at him. "No shit." Remus must have looked scared because the boy's expression softened. "Relax, I didn't mean it."

Remus took him in warily, he couldn't afford to make friends and have them discover anything. Without excusing himself he stood up and went to the library to get the books he would need for his classes.

It wasn't that he wanted to be mean, but if these boys found out his secret than he would be in for it for sure. Remus made it through his classes without talking to them, though in Transfiguration he had been paired with Peter and had to talk a bit. To his surprise the boy was bright and he caught on to the concept quickly. By lunch Remus was very hungry and glad to eat. After lunch they had double Defence against the Dark Arts. It was, much to his surprise, Remus' best class. It wasn't till the evening in the dorm room that anything happened…

"So if we put the bucket on this balcony," James was saying; he and Sirius had decided to combine their efforts to prank other people and not each other. "And he'll walk right under it."

"And we'll dump it on him," Sirius said with a flourish.

Remus was itching to intervene; where were they planning on hiding and what was their alibi when whoever it was they were pranking told a professor? And why not use a time-release spell so they didn't have to lie? He had been staring at the same page for the last ten minutes and he had no idea what it said. Not here to make friends, not here to make friends, he repeated over and over in his head. Another voice spoke up: what's the harm, it said, why not make friends and just keep your secret. If I make friends with them they'll notice me, and this is stupid, I'm arguing with myself.

"Perfect, and there's no way anyone will know it's us," James said triumphantly.

"What about an alibi?"

They both turned to look at him and he winced. "What?"

"Do you have an alibi for when your prank victim tells a teacher?"

"What's an alibi?"

"I don't know how to define it in English." He mumbled.

"In English." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What language can you define it in?"

"Italian." He mumbled.

"I know a bit, try me."

Remus eyed him and said very quickly and quietly. "Una forma di difesa per cui un difensore tenta di dimostrare che lui o lei era altrove quando il crimine in questione si ommesso." 1

"Little slower please."

"Una giustificazione o una difesa o un posto in cui dite siete in modo da una gente penseranno che didn't facciate qualcosa."2 He said much slower though just as quietly.

"That was something different though, I understood that."

"So do you have an alibi?"

"No, would you mind?"

"Not at all."

"Um as interesting as this is, would someone mind telling me what you two are talking about?"

"An alibi is like a excuse that someone makes, or that you make when someone thinks you did something, and Remus says he'll be ours."

"I understand that part, I didn't know you spoke Italian."

"It was a family thing, we went on vacation to Italy and my parents made me learn basic Italian. But what about you, Remus? How do you know Italian? And it seems as if you know more than basic Italian."

"I was born and lived in Italy till I was like, seven," he said, going back to his book.

"Really?" James said in amazement. "Say something in Italian."

"Um…what?"

"I don't know, do you know any nursery rhymes or anything?"

"I miei genitori mai mi non hanno detto che rime di scuola materna,

nessuno facesse il mio fratello. Tranne uno, ma il relativo childish."3

"I didn't know you had a brother. And tell us the childish one, we are childish."

"Only if I can remember it, it's been years since I heard it, I haven't chased lucciole in years."

"Well say it."

"Lucciola lucciola, gialla gialla, metti la briglia alla cavalla, che la vuole il figlio del re, lucciola lucciola vieni con me."4

"What does it mean?"

"In English? I don't know."

"Do you, Sirius?"

"No, but lucciola is firefly."

"Firefly?" Remus said, testing the word on his tongue. "Firefly, I like that."

"Like what?"

"The word, I like the word firefly. Sorry, I'll let you get back to your prank planning."

"Do you want to help?"

"Help what?"

"With the pranks?"

"Oh um... OK, sure. In that case what if you used a time release spell…"

The three of them spent the reminder of the evening planning pranks and learning bits and pieces of Italian. Remus's vow to not make friends lay forgotten in the depths of his mind.

1A form of defense whereby a defendant attempts to prove that he or she was elsewhere when the crime in question was committed.

2An excuse or defense or a place you say you are so

People will think that didn't do something

3 My parents never told me nursery rhymes, neither did my brother. Except one, but its childish.

4 Firefly, firefly, yellow and bright, Bridle the filly under your light, The son of the king is ready to ride, Firefly, firefly, fly by my side.

A/N you will notice (or maybe not) that the style changes a bit, I wrote most of this chapter ages ago, well about half of it. Than I was working on a later chapter, and I couldn't find a site to translate a spell in to Latin and I tried Italian it was Remus saying the spell and I thought people always make him French so I made him Italian. Thank you fro reading sorry about the long wait. Review on the way out please.


	5. The Full Moon Day and All Hallows Eve

Hope's Children

Chapter 5: The Full Moon Day and All Hallows Eve

Last Chapter

"Oh um... Ok, sure. In that case what if you used a time release spell…"

The three of them spent the reminder of the evening planning pranks and learning bits and pieces of Italian. Remus's vow to not make friends lay forgotten in the depths of his mind.

This Chapter

Remus blinked and looked around; the two other boys were both still asleep. The three of them had stayed up late planning pranks for the next month or so, and fallen asleep in the process. "Non sono stato supposto di fare gli amici."1 He whispered to himself as he stood and rummaged through his trunk in search of clean robes.

"Good morning, Remus." He jumped at James's voice.

"Good morning," he said quietly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. Hey, Remus?"

"Yes, James?"

"Will you teach me basic Italian, so that next time you and Sirius start talking I'll know what's going on?"

"I suppose, though I've never been a teacher."

"Cool, thanks."

Remus smiled. "Ok, first lesson, go yell 'vostro un blocco di frutta marinato gigante'2 in Sirius's ear. I'll tell you what it means at breakfast. Ok?"

James nodded, and wandered over to Sirius. Remus giggled to himself before fleeing to breakfast.

"Non sono stato supposto di fare gli amici."1 Why was that giant pink elephant talking in Italian, he didn't even know Italian and now he was waking up. He stretched and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Blinking, he looked around the room, Sirius was still asleep and Remus was bent over his trunk.

"Good morning." He heard himself say.

"Good morning," Remus said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," he said, an idea jumping about in his head. "Hey, Remus?"

"Yes, James?"

"Will you teach me basic Italian so that next time you and Sirius start talking I'll know what's going on?" he said quickly.

"I suppose, though I've never been a teacher."

"Cool, thanks."

Remus smiled at him and if James hadn't been half asleep he might have been suspicious. "Ok, first lesson, go yell 'vostro un blocco di frutta marinato gigante'2 in Sirius's ear. I'll tell you what it means at breakfast. Ok?"

James nodded absentmindedly and bent down next to Sirius's ear level. "Vostro un blocco di frutta marinato gigante!!"2

Sirius sprang up and glared at him. "What did you call me?"

James shrugged. "Remus is teaching me Italian and that was my first lesson, what does it mean?"

Sirius only glared at him. "As if you don't know." He stormed out of the dormitory.

Remus meanwhile was eating, and talking with Peter.

"…I'm from north Saylen," Peter said, taking a bite of his toast.

"Really? I've been there. It's…it's…small."

"You don't think I know that? I was so happy to get out of there, though I wasn't sure about the whole magic thing."

"Are you a muggleborn?" Sirius asked, coming up and sitting down next to Peter. Without waiting for an answer he kept talking. "You'll never guess what James just woke me up with."

"Did he call you a giant pickled fruit bat?" Remus said, chuckling into his porridge.

"Yeah how'd you know?"

"My idea, sorry, just a bit of a joke."

"Oh, I should go and apologize to James then, I got really mad at him," he said worriedly as he stood up and left the great hall.

Two minutes later James came into the great hall. "Did Sirius find you?" Remus asked as James sat down next to Peter and helped himself to pumpkin juice. He shook his head, as his mouth was full of juice. "He went looking for you to apologize for yelling and not believing you when you said it was my idea, I corrected him and all should be well."

"It is, I'm sorry." Sirius said, sitting down next to Remus. "Sorry about yelling at you, James."

"I'm sorry too, it was all my fault," Remus said.

"What did I call him anyway?"

"A giant pickled fruit bat."

James snorted, "Very original. So what have we got first today?"

The full moon of October was fast approaching, as was Halloween, though the two were one and the same; Remus was dreading both of them.

"Happy Halloween," Peter said happily, jumping out of bed and pulling robes on over his head.

Remus groaned and rolled over. His head was spinning, his stomach was turning, his eyes were burning, and he still had to get up and go to his classes.

"Are you all right Remus? You look pale."

"Fine" he mumbled, looking down at his porridge and setting his spoon down, it didn't look nearly as appetizing.

"You sure, you really look sick."

"I'm fine!" he snapped. "Sorry, just a little tired I guess."

"You looking forward to the feast tonight?"

"No, stupido, sanguinante, luna piena 3 I can't come actually I have to go and…and…visit my mother, she's ill."

"Sucky, the Halloween feast is supposed to be one of the best."

Remus shrugged. "I'm good, I'm going to hang out in the library till class, I'm not all that hungry." He set down his fork and grabbed his bag before leaving.

"He looked like he's the one who's sick, not his mum," Sirius said, looking at Remus's retreating back. "I'm going after him," he said grabbing two pieces of toast and his bag.

"Remus, Rem, wait up."

Remus turned to look at Sirius. "Stupido, giusto lascilo solo 4," he muttered before calling out to Sirius. "You didn't have to follow me, Sirius."

"I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm fine, really, and I know you don't want to go to the library."

"I do really. But class is in like five minutes; we should just go there and not bother with the library. Don't want to be late, do we?"

"Guess not."

"What happened to the always on time Remus? You sure you're not coming down with something? You look really pale."

Remus glared, why wouldn't Sirius just leave him alone? "Sirius, will you please just leave me alone?" He knew he was whining and he couldn't help it.

"Fine, but if you aren't looking better by lunch I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey, ok?"

Remus didn't hear him; he was already halfway to Charms and trying to keep his stomach from coming up through his mouth.

1 I wasn't supposed to make friends

2 You're a giant pickled fruit bat

3 No, stupid, bloody, full moon

4 Stupid, just leave me alone

A/N wow two chapters in just as many days, I don't think I've ever updated so fast. There isn't a lot to say. Review on your way out please.

This (and the other chapters of this story) have been betaed by my new beta ( California smells funny) and I'm very happy. Next two chapters will be up as soon as she sends them to me. Smiles,

Twa Twa

Xandria Nirvana


	6. Christmas and More Lies

Hope's Children

Chapter 6: Christmas and More Lies

Last Chapter

Remus glared. Why wouldn't Sirius just leave him alone? "Sirius, will you please just leave me alone?" He knew he was whining and he couldn't help it.

"Fine, but if you aren't looking better by lunch I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey, ok?"

Remus didn't hear him; he was already halfway to Charms and trying to keep his stomach from coming up through his mouth.

This Chapter

"Are you ready Mr. Lupin?" Remus nodded and pulled himself out of the hospital bed. "Good. If you follow me please, we'll go down to the tree." Remus nodded again and followed her out of the hospital wing.

Ten minutes later he was sitting on a small twin bed in the beat-up upstairs bedroom of the shrieking shack awaiting the rising of the full moon. "Odio la luna piena," he whispered before an excruciating pain wrenched through his body, starting in the small of his back: the place where the oldest scar on his back lay, that of the first werewolf's bite.

"You said Remus went to visit his mum?" Peter said, plopping down next to James on the couch.

"Yeah. Where's Sirius?"

"Detention, he turned McGonagall's hair green."

"Again?"

"Last time it was Flitwitck and purple. But yeah, same basic idea. Do you want to play a game of chess?"

"No way, you are not going to kick my ass at chess again. Who ever thought that some one who wasn't even raised by wizards would be so good at wizard's chess?"

"It's just like muggle chess, and I had to do something in the long boring hours. My dad and I used to play chess, and that's all there ever was to do in town."

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a small boring town."

"Did you think I was?"

"I thought you were exaggerating, no place can be that boring."

"Why do you think I was so happy to come here?"

"Because it's the best school of witchcraft and wizardry there is in all of Britain."

"But I didn't even know that, I just had to get out of there."

"Oh, remind me never to come and visit you, it sounds like we'd run out if things to do in the first day."

"More like the first hour."

"No place can be that boring."

Peter rolled his eyes. "The population is one hundred, _everyone _knows _everyone._"

"You're kidding, so where do they think you are?"

"Boarding school in Iceland."

"Iceland?"

"Yeah, no one would look for me there."

"Look for you where?" Sirius said, sitting on the floor.

"Iceland."

"And what would you do to have to hide in Iceland?"

"Ah…not want to tell the people in my town that I went to a wizarding school."

"Oh yeah, sounds like a good reason. Have you seen Remus lately?"

"He went to visit his mum, remember?"

"He told me his aunt died."

James opened his mouth to answer, but Peter beat him to it. "Maybe his aunt died and he has to go visit his mum because they were close and his mum's sad."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe. Anyone up for a game of exploding snap before the feast?"

The three boys played exploding snap for the remainder of the evening. Thoughts of Remus and his aunt were forgotten.

Remus snuck back in to the dorm late the next night after being kept in the hospital wing until the late hours of the night because of a broken arm he had given himself at some point the previous night. Though Madam Pomfrey could heal the cuts and scrapes he had given himself, she wasn't as apt at fixing his bones. He wasn't sure why; all he knew was that there was a cast on his writing arm, and he was doomed.

"Remus? Remus, is that you?"

"Hey Sirius. You guys have a fun time when I was away?"

"Not really, how's your mum?"

"My mum? Oh yeah, she's much better."

"Remus!?"

"Hm?"

"What happened to your arm?"

"Oh yeah, I fell down the stairs, landed on it, and it broke."

Sirius looked at him skeptically. "All right, but it's late, you should go to bed. No offence, but you still look sick."

"I am not ill Sirius, but thank you for the concern."

"Good. Come on, bed time."

Remus loved school; to him it was freedom. He was not, however, looking forward to Christmas break. How was he supposed to explain staying at school for Christmas when he went home every month anyway? Two days to the first day of break, and he still didn't have an excuse, not to mention Sirius was staying, so it wasn't as if he could just hide out.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah, Rem?"

"Are you staying for break?"

"Unfortunately mum's making me come home."

"Do you not like your mum?"

"Can't stand her, or the rest of them for that matter. How about you, are you going home for break?"

Remus racked his brain for a good excuse. "My parents live close to school; they're picking me up. So I'm going home, but I will not be on the train."

"You took the train on the first, didn't you?"

"Ah…my madre thought it would be easer to make friends if I was on the train for the first, she said that's where every one makes they're friends."

"Too bad you can't come with us on the train this time, we'll miss you when we prank the Slytherins."

"I will miss you guys as well."

"Have fun with your mum and dad."

"I would say the same, but it does not seem as if your Madre and Padre are as nice as…as…James or Peter or…me Madre and Padre."

"It's mum and dad Remus, but I call them mother and father. We're not all that close."

"What are mum and dad?"

"Madre and Padre; it's mum and dad in English."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"See, we're all learning things."

Christmas came and went, as did Easter, and Remus, Sirius, James and Peter became an inseparable (and insufferable) group, which Slytherins and teachers feared. Though the other three knew next to nothing about Remus and his background, he had learned a great deal about them over the year; Peter was not looking forward to the holidays as his house and town were far too boring for him, and Sirius was about to throw himself under the Hogwarts express because of the antics of his family. James on the other hand promised to have them over as soon as possible; his parents and life were apparently perfect. Remus himself had been invited by Dumbledore to stay in Gryffindor tower for the summer, and he would be able to use the shrieking shack. He was musing over this when his thoughts were interrupted by Sirius' loud voice.

"You all set to go, Rem?"

"Yeah. You do realize that I'm only coming on the train with you guys and then I have to take it back to Hogsmeade to meet my parents, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Mai mente, stolto."2

"Huh?"

"Come on Siri, we don't want to miss the train."

"_You_ might not want to." Sirius muttered.

"I don't care, remember. I'm just going to take it right back here."

"To Hogsmeade, you mean?"

"Ah…yeah…Hogsmeade."

"You guys, come on!"

"There's James, we'd better get going."

"Yeah." He reached over to help Sirius with his trunk; his had already been taken 'home'.

Peter and James were both at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them. "Come on you guys, the carriages'll be leaving." The four of them decided on that trip that pranking the Slytherins was a must, and that they would be friends for life.

1 I hate the full moon

2 Never mind silly

A/N another chapter ::stairs in aw:: and a long on ::continues stairing in aw:: sorry about the sappy ending, I was in the mood. Please review on your way out. Smiles.

Xandria Nirvana


	7. Sleeping Through the Feast and Sylvana L...

Hope's Children

Chapter 7: Sleeping Through the Feast and Sylvana Lupin

Last Chapter

Peter and James were both at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them. "Come on you guys, the carriages'll be leaving." The four of them decided on that trip that pranking the Slytherins was a must, and that they would be friends for life.

This Chapter

"Where's Rem?" James said, plopping down next to Sirius on the seat.

"He lives by school, remember. I owled him over the break; he's meeting us at the feast." Sirius looked up from his book.

"Are my eyes deceiving me, or is the great Sirius Black reading!" Peter said, dragging his trunk in through the compartment door. "How were your summers?"

"I am reading a prank book thank you very much, and my summer was just as bad as I thought it was going to be. I cannot wait to get back to school. I missed you guys. My mother was horrible; it was worse than Christmas was, all my cousins came over for July _and _August. I hate her-"

"We get it Sirius, you mum sucks."

"Forget it James. It's not something you need to think about, now is it?"

"Lay off him, Siri."

"Sorry Jamie."

"Just never call me Jamie again, and I'll forgive you."

"Deal."

"Ok. So how about you Pete? How was your summer?"

"Boring. As boring as every summer has been since the very first day of my life."

"You sure you've never had anything exciting happen?"

"Last summer this owl showed up in my room and gave me a letter telling me I could leave."

'Nothing ever happens on the express, right? They won't forget me.' Remus sat on his bed in the dorm, 'reading' a book, though he had been on the same page for almost an hour. Had his new friends forgotten him? It wasn't as if he deserved friends. They were sure to realize that they were better off with out him; after all, they had gotten together over the summer without him, and now they had the Hogwarts express.

"I'm bored." Sirius declared two or three hours into the ride; they had played seventeen games of exploding snap and played two pranks on the Slytherins, and had officially run out of things to do.

"How 'bout another game of exploding snap?" James said half-heartedly.

"If we play any more exploding snap my head might fall off." Peter answered him. "How is it we get bored after three hours on the train, but at school we can stay entertained for days?"

"Remus." Sirius answered. "It's Remus who makes us do our homework, and makes the big plans that keep us busy. It's Remus who makes sure we do not get too bored."

"Why on earth would someone live so close to school?" James asked, searching through his trunk for something to do.

"I think he lives at school," Peter said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that?"

"His trunk was stashed in the closet the evening after he told us his parents had come to pick him up, plus he didn't get a Christmas gift from them, or a birthday gift; we don't even know when his birthday is," Peter answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Hadn't you noticed?" he asked with fake innocence.

Remus flopped over onto his back. If the boys on the train were bored it was nothing to how bored Remus was; there was only so many times a eleven year old boy could be entertained by _The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe_. And he had long since stopped reading _The Wizard of Oz_; no place like home indeed, the only reason he had it was that it was one of the few reminders of the life he had once had; the life of being his madre and padre's baby and the shining glory. He was going to be the successful one, having finished the book his father had read in high school by the time he was four; he was going to be famous and change the course of history (A/N foreshadowing fully intended). Then he was bitten.

Trying to stop tears from pouring down his cheeks, he shut the book with a snap and threw it across the room in anger. "Sarò famoso e li mostrerò, cambierò la storia e saranno spiacenti!" 1 Without bothering to pick up the book, he turned over and went to sleep.

"I love the Hogwarts feasts." Sirius said, sitting down next to Peter and looking up at the sorting hat. "Where's Rem?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since we got back. That kid looks like him. Anyone hear the name?" James asked.

"Can't remember; first name's Sylvana, last one starts with 'L'," an older kid said, leaning over Peter to grab the rolls.

"Do you think Remus has a little sister?"

"GRYFFINDOR."

"Was that the Remus-twin?"

"I hardly think they're twins," Peter said, pouring gravy on his mashed potato. "She's a year under him."

"I was joking. And yes James, that was the Remus look-alike."

"So she's in Gryffindor. Then we can find out if they're related," James said. "And pass the pork chops."

"And where Remus is at the moment," Peter added. "Leave some pork chops for me James. I want one too."

"Sure Petey, here."

"Don't call me Petey," Peter muttered. "Hello, what's your name?" he asked the Remus look-alike who had sat down next to him.

"Sylvana Lupin."

"Where's Remus?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, very much like Remus would have. "Who?"

"Your brother, Remus Lupin, short, pale, sickly?" Sirius said, trying to spark her memory.

"I don't have a brother named Remus, I'm an only child. As far as I know anyway."

"Are you sure? Remus is only a year older than you, and he looks just like you. Are you Italian?"

The girl looked at him, stood up and moved down to the other end of the table.

"You scared her away, Sirius."

"Sorry, but I wanted to know where Remus is."

"I understand that, but I wanted to ask where my best friend is, and she is so obviously related to him." Sirius shot back at James.

"Well maybe she was adopted."

"Maybe Remus was adopted," Peter said. "Maybe that's why he lives at school."

"Again, he doesn't live at school."

"Sure he does. I bet we find him upstairs."

"Whatever. He's not going to be upstairs, and if he is, it's because he lives near school, and he came early."

"Shh," Peter whispered, slowly opening the door. "Maybe he fell asleep and forgot about the feast."

"I'm telling you, Remus is not in there."

"What was that?"

"Remus?"

"Sirius?"

"Remus, what are you doing in here?"

"I was…I was…um…I was…"

"Were you sleeping?" Peter asked.

"Yes I was sleeping, I was reading and I fell asleep."

"Don't say it, Peter."

"What was Peter going to say?"

"He was going to say I told you so."

"I was not."

"I'm fairly sure you were going to say I told you so."

"I was not," he muttered, collapsing on his bed. "I'm going to sleep. And Sirius?"

"Yes Peter?"

"I told you so." He pulled the curtains closed.

"What was that about?"

"Remus, do you have a sister?"

"A what?"

"Una sorella." 2

"Ah…no…no, I don't have a a, sister."

"Really? There's a first year named Sylvana Lupin - she was sorted into Gryffindor - who looks just like you."

Remus paled. "Really? Was she Italian?"

"Ah…she…ah."

"Sirius scared her away."

Remus snorted. "Did you really?"

"No…she was…she was…making new friends!"

"Sure she was, Sirius, sure she was." James snickered at Sirius's expression and closed his curtains.

"Night Sirius, sleep well, and I'll see you in the morning." Remus closed his curtains leaving Sirius staring three sets of closed curtains.

"I hate you all!" he said to the three closed curtains of his best friends.

"Good morning," James said, pulling back Sirius's curtains.

"You would think after a year, you would know that I am not a morning person. Go away, James."

"I will not, it's the first day and I refuse to be late."

"You sound like Remus."

"Who sounds like me?"

"Jamie."

"Don't call me Jamie, and I do not sound like Remus."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, no, but you sound like you and I, I sound like, like me and therefore I cannot, cannot sound like you, because, I, I sound like, like me!"

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Very smooth, Jamie. I'm going to breakfast. Don't be late."

"I don't sound like him!" James said, before pulling his towel out of his trunk and going into the bathroom.

1 I will be famous and I will show them, I will change history, and they will be sorry!

2 a sister

A/N Shorter and it would have been longer (and better) but as Sirius was saying sorry my mom and our room mate decided to start arguing so I lost my train of thought, so now I'm saying sorry. Happy New Year.

Ok this was chapter seven and eight. But eight began as they were opening the door to the dorm. Don't look at me like that, I know I'm crazy, so you get an extra extra long chapter I hope you enjoyed it, review on your way out.

Twa

Xandria Nirvana


	8. Contradittorio

Hope's Children

Chapter eight: Contradittorio

Last Chapter

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, no, but you sound like you and I, I sound like, like me and therefore I can not, can not sound like you, because, I, I sound like, like me!"

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Very smooth, Jamie. I'm going to breakfast. Don't be late."

"I don't sound like him!" James said, before pulling his towel out of his trunk and going into the bathroom.

This chapter

Remus loved school, and it was much more fun now that his friends were back and the school was no longer deserted. He settled back into routine with no trouble, and fell back into the same lie even more easily. It scared him a little. The last year when informed of his 'sick' mother or dead aunt/uncle/cousin/niece/nephew/any other family member he could think of, Sirius and James would pry and question, and try to make it up to him (Sirius had once offered to come to his grandmother's funeral for moral support), but this year, when he told them that his great aunt Millie had died, James only nodded and Sirius (seemingly with out thinking about it) told him to have fun. Shaking his head, Remus set out to the hospital wing.

"Ok, down to business. We know he goes somewhere every month…"

Remus returned early the next morning (a Saturday much to his relief) to find James and Sirius sprawled out and asleep over moon charts and Defense Against the Dark Arts books, ones they most certainly would not need for the assignment. With a gasp, he ran up the stairs.

"James, I think that was Remus."

"What?"

"Remus. I think he just ran upstairs."

"Shit. Well come on, we have to talk with him."

"But we-"

"We have to, otherwise he'll think we're going to hate him or something."

Sirius looked up from his book. He bit his lip, making James chuckle. "What?"

"You bit your lip and it made you look like Rem, now come on."

"All right, all right." Sirius stood up and followed James upstairs.

Remus, still terrified, started frantically throwing things in his trunk, wincing every time he pulled a muscle too hard or banged into anything.

"Ow," he gasped as his ankle hit the corner of his trunk.

"Remus?" Sirius's voice called through the door. "Remus, are you ok?"

"Non si preoccupi, io stanno andando," 1 he said, his trembling voice clogged with tears.

"What!? Why?"

Remus looked up from throwing things into his trunk to see Sirius and James. "Andrò appena, appena soddisfo non dico a, non dico a ogni. Lo lascerò, non preoccupo, appena dimentico e per favore, non dica a prego." 2

"Of course we won't tell," Sirius said, rushing towards him. Remus gasped and curled into a ball, covering his head. "Remus? What's the matter?" Remus didn't look up, only cowered under the feel of Sirius's gaze.

"Nonlo danneggi per per favore," 3 he whispered. "Prego, prometto che li lascerò ancora e mai non importunerò, ma prego non lo danneggio." 4

"Remus?" Sirius bent down and tried to comfort the shaking boy. "Remus, relax, we're not going to hurt you. I promise."

Remus cautiously raised his head and blinked back tears. "What?" he whispered.

"We don't care. And we certainly don't want to hurt you. Relax, come on, Jamie and I will even help you re-unpack."

It was the mark of how serious the situation was that James made no comment on the misuse of his name. Sirius smiled down at Remus and held out a hand to help the still shaking boy up from the floor. "Are you good?" Remus nodded, smiling through his tear stained face.

"Grazie," 5 Remus whispered.

School continued on as normal, though Remus was terrified that James and Sirius would realize their mistake and tell the school. His terrified state was starting to effect his grades before anyone started to notice.

"Remus?"

Remus looked up from his book and swung his legs on to the floor. "Yes, Sirius?"

"Are you worried about something?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, because you're slipping." He sat down on the bed next to Remus. "You're not still worried about Jamie and me telling people, are you? Because we won't. I promised and I plan to keep my promise."

Remus tried to smile at him. "You shouldn't call him Jamie, he doesn't like it."

"You need to relax more and just forget about it, we're not going to tell. Nothing changed at all; the only difference is that you don't have to lie to us anymore."

"It's just a bit new, to be around people who know and don't hate me."

"What about your parents?"

"My parents?"

"They don't hate you."

"Of course not. But I've never had friends that knew before."

"You haven't?"

"No. But I do now, and it doesn't matter anyway."

"Nonsense."

Slowly Remus relaxed and became accustomed to his friends knowing about him and his secret. He was having so much fun with his new friends, for he had become so accustomed to not having friends that he had began to withdraw so much that no one really knew anything about him. And now he was so happy; he was helping with everything. Including pranking people.

"Something big, remind the rest of the school we're here and not going anywhere."

"We could… no, that won't work. Or we… no, never mind."

"James!"

"Oh, I've got it… wait, no, never mind."

"James!"

"What?"

"Either tell us what you're talking about or shut up."

"Fine. What if we lock the teachers in the teachers' lounge for the first day?"

"We don't want to interrupt anyone's learning."

"Still the same old Remus."

"Almost. He's worried that we'll betray him."

"Why? Wouldn't we have done it by now if we were planning on doing it?"

"Wouldn't you be? And I'm sitting right here, there's no need to talk as if I'm not in the room."

"Marauder's honor. I'll never tell," James said confidently.

"Marauder's honor? What's that?" Sirius asked.

"It sounds cool, and my mum is always calling me a marauder. I'm not sure what it means."

"Una persona che saccheggia o ruba o è untrustworthy," 6 Remus said, looking at the surprised look on both boys' faces.

"What?" James asked.

"A person who saccheggia 7 or steals or is untrustworthy," Sirius translated for his benefit.

"What's saccheggia 7 mean?"

"It's the same as steal. Only a fancy way of saying it," Remus answered. "Now a marauder's honor is kind of a contradittorio."

"A what?" James asked, looking at Sirius.

Who in turn shrugged. "Do'no mate, it's a big word, not a basic one. Rem?"

"I don't know, if I knew I would have said it in English. Whatever. Your marauder's honor is a good thing, right?"

"Of course. And Siri'll say it too."

Sirius raised his right hand in a mock salute and said: "Marauder's honor, may I be banned from all future pranking if I were to ever disclose a fellow marauder's secret." He lowered his hand and looked at James. "Now you say it."

James looked at him apprehensively. "Ah, marauder's honor, um, may I be, ah banned from all future, ah, pranking if I were to, ah, ever, um, disclose a fellow marauder's secret. There, are you happy Sirius, I said your ridiculous vow."

"Very," Sirius said cheerfully as if James were not nearly as grumpy as he was. "Is that enough for you, Rem?"

Remus, who was laughing at the antics of his friends, stood up solemnly (though he was fighting a smile) and nodded before bursting out laughing again.

1 Don't worry, I'm leaving.

2 I'll leave, just, just please don't tell, tell every one. I'll leave, don't worry, just forget me and please, please don't tell.

3 Don't hurt me, please.

4 Please, I promise I'll leave and never bother you again, but please don't hurt me.

5 Thank you

6 A person who plunders or steals or is untrustworthy.

7 Plunders

A/N I'll have you know that this chapter was not meant to be like this at all. Review on your way out please, oh and the last page and a half of this were greatly inspired by four stories, Man on the Moon, New Moon, Dividing the World, and A Maps Tale. There all by the same person, if you have the time go and read them. Again review on your way out.

Twa

Xandria Nirvana

P.S. cookies and a dedication to the person who tells me what the title means.


	9. Peter’s Views

Hopes Children

Chapter Nine: Peter's Views

Last Chapter

Sirius raised his right hand in a mock salute and said: "Marauder's honor, may I be

banned from all future pranking if I were to ever disclose a fellow marauder's secret." He lowered his hand and looked at James. "Now you say it."

James looked at him apprehensively. "Ah, marauder's honor, um, may I be, ah banned from all future, ah, pranking if I were to, ah, ever, um, disclose a fellow marauder's secret. There, are you happy Sirius, I said your ridiculous vow."

"Very," Sirius said cheerfully, as if James were not nearly as grumpy as he was. "Is that enough for you, Rem?"

Remus, who was laughing at the antics of his friends, stood up solemnly (though he was fighting a smile) and nodded before bursting out laughing again.

This Chapter

"Now, about Peter."

"What about Peter?"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know Siri, how do you think he'll take it?"

"He's muggle born, if we tell him werewolves are good in the wizarding world he'll believe us."

"All right, but I don't want to tell him, I mean I should, but I don't want to." Remus looked at Sirius a little pleadingly. "Would you or James tell him?"

"Of course we will. No reason for you to feel uncomfortable."

"Thanks Siri."

"So we have to tell Peter for him?" James asked Sirius, later in the common room, after Remus had gone to bed.

"Yeah, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do it for him, do you?"

"No, and here comes Peter now."

"Hey Peter. How was detention?"

"Very fun," he said sarcastically.

"Come over here for a sec."

"What?" Peter said, sitting next to Sirius on the couch.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"Well, I always figured they weren't real, but I've discovered so many things in the last year and a half or so that I have no idea what's real and what's not."

"But what have you heard about werewolves?"

"That they are people who grow ears and hair and a tail on the full moon, and that if a werewolf bites you it turns you in to a werewolf yourself, and that they're evil, but I can't figure out why."

Sirius turned to James. "Looks like we have a good start."

"A good start on what?"

"Well, most of the stuff that you said about werewolves was right. First off, werewolves turn all the way into wolves on the full moon - there are a few small differences, we'll get in to those later - second off, only if a werewolf bites you on the full moon do you become a werewolf, but you're right about not being able to figure out why people say they're evil, that's only in muggle story books. Werewolves aren't evil, not at all."

"Just out of curiosity, do we have an assignment on werewolves coming up or something?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because you're grilling me on what I know about them?"

"Well, we just wanted to figure out what you thought of them."

"Yes, but why?"

"Well, you see Peter, werewolves, they deserve the same treatment as people who haven't been bitten, and you being a muggle-born we figured you needed to know," Sirius said.

"Yes, except what's it about?"

James shook his head. "What Sirius is trying to say is that if you ever met a werewolf, or rather if you found out one of you friends was a werewolf, or both really-"

"Just get to the point James."

"Well then you shouldn't feel any different about them, you should just remain friends with them and not be any different-"

"You're still avoiding the point."

"Yes, well."

"James, who's a werewolf?"

"Remus."

"Oh, ok then, where is Remus by the way?"

James was about to answer when Sirius interrupted him. "Why? What are you going to do to him?"

"Nothing, I need help with my Charms and last time you and James helped me I nearly failed the test we were studying for. I would rather not fail again, so I want Remus to help me because he can teach."

"Fine then, but can it wait 'til tomorrow? Remus is asleep."

"All right, then I'm going to sleep. Unless one of you wants to play chess?"

"No way," they said together.

"Now that's just freaky," Peter said, before going upstairs.

A/N Sorry its so short, I had to put Peter in, I forgot about him when I was writing the last chapter. The other reason is I'm watching the third movie, and its just as scabbers (Peter) is getting away, anyway I've been watching the movie the entire time I was watching this and I nearly wrote Professor Lupin in stead of Remus a couple of times, so any way Review on your way out. Sorry it's so short.

Twa Tea

Xandria Nirvana


	10. Contemplating ‘and’ and ‘or’

Hope's Children

Chapter Ten: Contemplating 'and' and 'or'

Last Chapter

"Nothing, I need help with my Charms and last time you and James helped me I nearly failed the test we were studying for. I would rather not fail again, so I want Remus to help me because he can teach."

"Fine then, but can it wait 'til tomorrow? Remus is asleep."

"All right, then I'm going to sleep. Unless one of you wants to play chess?"

"No way," they said together.

"Now that's just freaky," Peter said, before going upstairs.

This Chapter

"…So with the correct incantation, the chair's molecular set up will re-arrange itself as your will bends it to. It's all a matter of the correct pronunciation and the amount of will power you put into it; once you grasp the concept and practice a little it's not that hard. Understand?"

"I think, what happens if you say the incantation the wrong way?"

"I'm not sure, it's never happened to me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well my parents never let me near a wand until I went to Hogwarts."

"Oh I see, what do you think will happen?"

"It depends on how off you are, it could be anything from the chair changing into a color you don't want it to be, to blowing up or something."

"Did someone say blowing up?" Sirius said, plopping down on the bed next to Remus. "What're you guys planning?"

"Nothing, Remus is helping me with my Charms."

"Well blowing something up sounds fun, how about Malfoy or Snape?"

"What do you have against them anyway, Siri?"

"They're practically family," Sirius said sourly.

"Wouldn't that make them your friends?" Peter asked, puzzled.

"It's more like they're practically my family's family, and I am _not_ my family."

"That's very confusing, but I think I get it," Peter said, still concentrating on his homework. "Remus, what is the incantation?"

"I'm not sure what they're going to teach us, but I know what my parents used to say." Remus didn't seem to realize he had said used to say, and Peter was too worried about catching up with the wizarding students to think any more of it.

Sirius, however, heard it in a rather subconscious manner, and his mind filed it away in some dusty corner to pull up at a later date, when he could use it to his advantage. He smiled mischievously and asked again. "So are we going to blow Snape or Malfoy up?"

"Seems a little mean, and won't they tell your parents?"

"I'm not scared of Malfoy or Snape, and I am _not _afraid of my parents." His eyes flickered and Remus was quite sure he _was _afraid of his parents.

"Well Peter and I are busy, and you should be too."

"Doing what?"

"Homework perhaps?"

"Are you kidding?"

"No, not really, but maybe I should have been."

"Yes you should have been, I finished all my homework. Please help me blow Snape and Malfoy up."

"I thought it was Snape or Malfoy?"

"Evil gits tend to run in packs." He didn't see Remus flinch. "Blowing up one means blowing up the other. So or and and mean the same thing."

"They do?" Remus asked. "I though they were different?"

Sirius looked at him in surprise. "Only in this case. Most of the time or and and are different. Sometimes I forget English isn't your first language, and then it just springs into my face like a jack in the box."

"A jack-in-the-box?"

"Yeah that weird muggle toy, that clown in a box and you turn the handle and it pops out and scares the little kids half to death."

"Sounds like a very…um…interesting toy." Sirius laughed. "How do you know so much about muggles and their toys anyway? I would think your family would frown on that kind of thing."

"That's why I learned as much as I could about muggles; when I was little my philosophy was that if my parents thought it was bad it must be good. Got me into quite a few scrapes before I figured out that maybe not _everything_ they thought was bad was good." It was Remus's turn to laugh as he imagined a miniature Sirius in trouble for everyday things. "You laugh at my misery?" Sirius asked, his voice full of fake hurt.

"Of course not, I laugh with your misery!" Sirius only stuck his tongue out. "You resort to childlike insults because you have no further argument."

"Fine then, do you know what a jack-in-the-box is now?"

"Not really."

"Well what did you play with when you were a kid?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer, and couldn't think of anything. His memory before his fifth birthday was hazy, and after that his brother had never had enough money to buy him toys. "Um…my…family was big on…um…imaginary games…we didn't have many toys," he mumbled.

"Oh, well we'll have to get you some then."

"I don't _need_ any toys."

"I know about needing toys, it's more about if you _want_ toys."

"But I don't _want _any toys."

"Everyone wants toys."

"Well not me!" Remus snapped. "Sorry, I'm just a bit stressed."

"About what?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the bed next to Remus.

"Moon," he said quietly. "School work, life in general," he said, flopping back onto his pillow and closing his eyes. "All right, I'll help you blow Snape or Malfoy up, but you have to pick one, and Peter has agree that he's fine without my help."

"Good then. Malfoy," he said, hopping off the bed. "Hey Peter, can I borrow Remus for a while?"

"U-huh," Peter mumbled, not looking up from his essay.

A/N again sorry for the short-ish chapter, and rather pointless to, I am taking a moment to remind you that the Malfoy I'm referring to is not Lucius but rather his younger brother Duncan, its written in one of the earlier chapters. This chapter is dedicated to foureyedsnail you was the first person to figure out what I _meant _the title of chapter 8 to mean, its not in chapter 9 because I already sent that to the beta's. It is also dedicated to Raichuu who got closest to the real meaning; Contradictory, which was only the title because there is no Italian word for oxymoron. Please review on your way out.

Twa Tea

Xandria Nirvana


	11. Werewolfism and Lycanthropy

Hope's Children

Chapter Eleven: Werewolfism and Lycanthropy

Ok before anything on this chapter starts I would like to tell you that I am amazed that I made it this far on a story and I want to thank all the people who are reading this and reviewing as a lot of times its what keeps me going on a lot of days. So thank you from your very amazed author.

Last chapter

"Moon," he said quietly. "School work, life in general," he said, flopping back on to his pillow and closing his eyes. "All right, I'll help you blow Snape or Malfoy up, but you have to pick one, and Peter has agree that he's fine without my help."

"Good. Then Malfoy," he said, hopping off the bed. "Hey Peter, can I borrow Remus for a while?"

This chapter

"Shh."

"What?"

"Teachers, or students, can't tell."

"How can you tell?"

"Wolf ears."

"You're kidding."

"No, and be quiet, I'll tell you about it later."

"Fine, being quiet."

* * *

"Have you finished my Transfiguration essay yet?"

"Almost, I have mine to do too."

"Well it's due tomorrow, so finish it and quickly. And do you think I care about _your_ homework?"

* * *

"So wolf ears?"

"Why do you care anyway?"

"Because you're my friend, and I care about you. Plus it's cool, I mean you can hear the teachers from like corridors away, do you know how great that is for pranks?"

"Sure, but I don't prank that much."

"Why?"

"I never wanted to call attention to myself, plus if I pranked than I might get fi-in trouble with my parents."

"That's not what you were going to say."

"Of course it is."

"All right, I'll leave it, but we're coming back to it later. So any other cool werewolf powers?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Cool werewolf powers?" Sirius nodded. "Um, other than the ears, my eyesight is better as well, and my sense of smell." How cool. "And then the big one."

"What's that?"

"I can see magic, and I can see through magic."

"Through magic?"

"I don't know what else to call it, like, um, the first day of first year and I could see where you fell down the stairs even though your father had put a spell so nobody could see."

"What?"

"Don't you remember that?"

"Sorta, but not very well."

"I remember it, you looked worse than I felt, and that was like two days after the full."

"Oh, well, I remember meeting you, but not falling down the stairs."

"I don't think you did fall down the stairs, I didn't think so then either but I couldn't say anything, I didn't know you well enough, it didn't look like you fell down the stairs."

"I probably didn't," Sirius said quietly.

"Care to tell me what did happen?" Sirius shook his head. "You don't have to. But I can help."

"No, not now at least."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, just drop it!"

"All right, all right, but it's easier if you don't have to keep secrets. Trust me, I know."

"No you don't! Just leave me alone."

"I don't know anything about keeping secrets?"

"I know you know about keeping secrets. But you don't know anything about my secrets."

"Not if you don't tell me."

"But I'm not going to tell you, at least not now."

"All right, but if you ever need to talk…"

"I don't. I'm going to bed."

"All right, I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night."

* * *

"Good morning. Listen Sirius, I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's all right, just leave it be. And go back to sleep, its way too early."

"Ok, good night."

* * *

"I don't know anything about what happened to Remus that makes him so secretive, but I want to help him." James looked up.

"Where is Remus?"

"In the library. I think."

"Well how are we supposed to do that? There's no cure for werewolfism."

"Lycanthropy."

"Lycanthropy?"

"It's not werewolfism, its lycanthropy."

"Ok, well there's still no cure."

"There has to be something we could do."

"I still don't know, we can research it right?"

"Remus is in the library, there's nowhere else to go."

"Isn't there a public library in Hogsmeade?"

"I suppose, but we're not allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"We can next year."

"If my mother and father sign the bloody form," Sirius muttered, so low that James didn't hear.

A/N strange chapter I know, I'm having a lot of trouble, between the time they find out Remus is a werewolf and when they become animagi not a lot happens, so please bear with me, this was a weird chapter and it was mostly dialogue, a better on soon I hope. In the mean time I'm working on a couple of one shots. Review on your way out.

Twa tea

Xandria Nirvana


	12. Of Forms and Letters

Hope's Children

Chapter Twelve: Of Forms and Letters

Last chapter

"Isn't there a public library in Hogsmeade?"

"I suppose, but we're not allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"We can next year."

"If my mother and father sign the bloody form," Sirius muttered, so low that James didn't hear.

This chapter

"Please, Father, please."

"On what grounds should I even consider signing that ridiculous form?" Sirius didn't answer; after all, there was no reason his father would consider. "As I thought, you will not be attending Hogsmeade this year. I have half a mind to stop you going back to that school at all." Sirius hung his head. His father glared. "Very well, now go." Sirius ran off, not bothering to go outside, instead locking himself in his room.

* * *

Remus paced the deserted dormitory, periodically glancing down at the letter in his hand. "Si dimenticheranno circa me,(1)" he whispered, sitting down on the only bed that looked slept in. "Tutti si spegneranno a Hogsmeade e si dimenticheranno circa me.(2)" He fell back against the bed and sighed.

* * *

"Mum, mum."

"What is it Pete? I've only got a minute."

"I need you to sign this form for school."

"Ok, hand it here."

"Thanks mum."

"Good, now go make the beds in rooms seven and eight."

* * *

"My letter's here."

"Bit busy James, can we talk later?"

"Yeah, just need you to sign my Hogsmeade form."

"Will do, only later, ok?"

"Fine, but I'm holding you to that."

* * *

Dear Remus

I'm writing to invite you over for the last few weeks of summer; you can even stay the night, and then you can come on the train with us. Think about it and ask your mum and dad, please.

-James

Dear Sirius

I'm writing to invite you over for the last few weeks of summer, I'm writing Remus and Peter as well, please ask your parents, please. And I know your parents won't like it, but please try.

-James

Dear Peter

I'm writing to invite you over for the last few weeks of summer, it'll be fun, please try, it'll be great and you can get out of that dead boring town you're always going on about. It'll be fun.

-James

Dear James

I can come, as long as it's after the 5th of August. Is floo ok? I'll meet you at your house at about noon by floo, ok? Write back if it's not ok.

-Remus

Dear James

They said yes! They said yes! They said yes!

-Sirius

Dear James

Thanks for the offer, sounds much better than here. I don't think I can make another bed. See you in August.

-Peter

* * *

"They're late."

"They'll be here, just come on."

"OW."

James and his father jumped, and turned to see Sirius sitting on the floor of the kitchen.

"Good afternoon."

"See?" James's father muttered to him. "Welcome Sirius, James'll show you where you're staying for the next few weeks."

"Come on, Sirius."

"What about Peter and Remus?"

"They're both coming on the fifth."

"So it's just us?""

"Yup."

"All the better to plan, then."

"This is the room we're all sharing," James said, throwing open a door to reveal a living room.

"There aren't any beds, James."

"Right, you're through there," he said, gesturing to one of the doors. "And when Rem and Pete get here they'll be in there." He gestured to two more doors. "Bathroom's through there, and if you need me, I'm there," he said, pointing at the two remaining doors.

"Wow."

James raised an eyebrow. "Wow what?"

"Lots of room, and it's so…so…bright."

James laughed. "I suppose. We could make it dark if you want."

"Nope, this is perfect. So, now what?"

"Ah…ah…hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Quidditch maybe?"

"Sounds great," Sirius said happily, pulling his broom out of his trunk. "Let's go!" he said, running out of the door. James waited a moment for Sirius to look back in. "Um… James, where do we play?" James laughed and waved him out the door.

* * *

"Peter!"

"I didn't do it," Peter said on impulse.

"Peter," James laughed, "of course you didn't. You just got here, how could you have done anything?"

"Um…do' know. Maybe I landed on your cat or something."

Sirius snorted. "Why would James have a cat? All animals hate him."

"They do not."

"Name five animals that have not attacked you the second they saw you."

"His owl, me, you, um…nope, I can only name three," a new voice said.

"Remus!" Sirius galumphed himself on the shorter boy, who winced.

"Careful Siri, my ribs."

Sirius looked at him in scrutiny and declared: "We need to fatten you up." And hoisted Remus on to his shoulder. "Come on, we're going to fill you with Ms. Potter's marvelous cooking."

1 They'll forget about me.

2 They'll all go off to Hogsmeade and forget about me

A/N now we have all four boys at the Potter's, what mischief are they going to make? If you wouldn't mind I'd like help with that question, they have about three weeks until they go back to school and I need help with prank ideas, I think if you just give me a few items I can make a prank out of them, but I do need a little help. I can not believe I made it this far, a lot of these chapters have been written while I was locked in my room with the music really loud so I could drown out all the yell, it makes cheerful chapters really hard so I'm sorry if this isn't as light and fluffy as I meant it to be, please forgive me. The end of this chapter was really hard to write, it was supposed to be nice and fun and that was hard to write with all the banging and screaming in the living room, so much for a happy valentines hu? Well I hope you enjoyed your better than I enjoyed mine:shameless self plug: check out my valentines fic, its HP/DM and really more angust-y than I usually do, but I'm rather proud of it :end self plug, begin unself plug: if you haven't already I suggest the Traveling Pants series my mom and I have spent most of the last to days reading it to each other. I'm rambling sorry. Thanks for reading, review please.

Xandria Nirvana of the purple hair


	13. Cheese, Peanut Butter, Balloons, and Pud...

Hope's Children

Chapter Thirteen: Cheese, Peanut Butter, Balloons, and Pudding

Holy Crap did I just write chapter thirteen? Never thought I would ever make it this far in a story. Ever. Wow. Ok right, on with the story, I hate people who put authors notes at the beginning and now here I am, two already. Silly me, sorry, odd mood, my grandmothers down from the island and she's as crazy as they come, really. Right, go on read.

Last Chapter

"Remus!" Sirius galumphed himself on the shorter boy, who winced.

"Careful Siri, my ribs."

Sirius looked at him in scrutiny and declared: "We need to fatten you up." And hoisted Remus onto his shoulder. "Come on, we're going to fill you with Ms. Potter's marvelous cooking."

This Chapter

"Ok, one, two, THREE!" Sirius jumped out from behind the statue on the third floor and dumped the vat of pudding on Remus's head. It never reached the top of the other boy's head; instead, it turned itself around and dumped itself on Sirius' head, as well as James, who was still crouched behind the stature.

"You really should know better than that by now." He looked down at them and smiled: "Good luck getting that out." And he walked off to find Peter.

"Stupid spell, stupid moony," Sirius muttered. "Moony," he said in a normal tone of voice. "That's a wonderful name, we'll call him Moony!"

"Moony, Moony," Sirius called after Remus's retreating back.

"Ah Sirius, he doesn't know that's his name yet."

"Oh, right. Remus! Remus!" Remus turned to look at him.

"Yes Sirius?" Remus said.

"We've…" James cleared his throat. "Um…I've got the greatest name for you."

"It better not be something stupid like wolf-boy, or something."

Sirius chuckled. "That's a good name."

"Don't you dare!"

"Fine, I won't, and it wasn't something stupid. I don't even think I'll tell you."

"Fine then," he said, disappearing into his room.

"See that's not fair," Sirius said, turning to James. "If you said that to me I would so want to know, but Remus, he just, he's got like no curiosity! What happened to curiosity kills the cat?"

"Apparently it doesn't kill the werewolf," James muttered.

"I heard that, don't let your parents hear you. I'd rather not get kicked out early," Remus shouted through the door to his room.

"My parents aren't like that, Moony. They won't care."

"That's what you think. Even the best of people'll go bad in the face of a monster," Remus said darkly.

"Oh relax Rem," Sirius called, and turned to James, saying in a much quieter voice: "Who do you think betrayed him?"

James shrugged. "I do' know, come on, let's go find Peter."

"Wait, what'd you call me?" Remus called as they turned from the door.

James opened his mouth to answer but was cut off. "We're not telling you unless you come out here, and get the pudding of us, and be cheerfuler."

"Cheerfuler is not a word," Remus said, stepping out and waving his wand to get the pudding off them.

"It is now, Moony," Sirius said, slinging an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders and leading him in the direction of the kitchen.

* * *

"Ok, do you have everything?" Sirius whispered.

"Yes, here." Remus handed him two balloons: "Hold them still," he muttered, smearing peanut butter on half of each of the balloons. "Ok, now give me a boost up," he muttered, taking the peanut butter smeared balloons from Sirius.

"What exactly are you doing Remus?"

"You'll see, now boost me up so I can put these on the ceiling."

"Um…if you say so." Sirius cupped his hands and lifted Remus up. "You're still too light, I keep telling you to eat."

"Sirius! Be Quiet!" Remus hissed, glaring down at him.

"Bossy, aren't you," Sirius muttered as Remus stuck the last of the balloons to the ceiling.

"You can let me down now."

Sirius dropped him. "Now will you please tell me what's going to happen?"

Remus sighed and pulled Sirius away from 'the crime scene'. "Eventually the peanut butter will stop holding up the balloons and they'll fall on whom ever is standing under them. It usually takes about two days, so we just have to make sure the guys are under them in about two days." He shrugged. "Simple."

"What's the cheese for?"

Remus looked at him as if he were crazy. "Its _cheese,_ what else will we do with it? It's to eat, silly." Remus handed him two pieces of the cheese he was holding and walked off, leaving Sirius staring after him, puzzled.

A/N I know that was a weird chapter thank you very much! Um yeah, don't know if the peanut butter thing will acutely work, I doubt it, but I'm not one for pranks, next chapter you find out what happens. : smiles devilishly:. Thanks to **marauding-siriusly **who gave me balloons and peanut butter and cheese when I asked for prank items, thanks to her. I added one of my own and you'll find out what it is next chapter. Review on your way out please, sorry about the short chapter.

Smiles my Sweets.

Xandria Nirvana


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